NRK is running an election campaign for the Democrats

Despite the fact that Norway’s state broadcaster NRK frequently cites the New York Times (NYT) as a source, the editorial team has omitted the newspaper’s exposé of the Democrats’ attempts to manipulate the election result in Alaska by recruiting a candidate with the same name as the Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.

In my view, this is a clear example of editorial bias, and NRK is omitting a story that casts the Democrats in a bad light.

Instead, the state broadcaster comes across almost as a campaigner for the Democrats. This is particularly evident in the extensive report on how much power Donald Trump could lose.

This is, to put it mildly, a classic NRK hit piece on Trump, whilst portraying the Democrats in a rosy light ahead of election day. The report could just as easily have been used as campaign material by the Democrats to target independent American voters who had not yet made up their minds.

Other Norwegian media outlets have covered the story, albeit with some dubious headlines. Adresseavisen, for example, ran the headline: ‘Trump wants to bar Democratic candidate in Alaska in name dispute case’.

A Google search, using AI search and searching within NRK’s website, yields no results for the Alaska revelation. Instead, we find Peltola and Sullivan mentioned in NRK’s comprehensive report.

The report was published in the last few days, but with no visible date, it is unclear whether it was published before or after the NYT’s exposé. It remains featured on NRK’s front page. In any case, NRK has not followed up with a separate news story on the Alaska exposé.

Here, too, NRK’s angle is clear.

Peltola is presented alongside her historical background and her collaboration with the Republicans. Sullivan is presented primarily through his support for Trump and the need to defend the President’s policies.

Election campaign coverage at ‘Supernytt’ level

The red cap must, of course, be mentioned in the very first sentence. “The man with the red cap is not standing for election, but his power is,” writes NRK, which appears to have only just discovered that the US President holds power.

If the Democrats win a majority, they can curb President Donald Trump’s power and policies.

If the Republicans win, Trump will likely have exactly the same power as before. A great deal, in other words.

This is followed by a summary of the report, with explanations at a level that clearly assumes the readers do not understand very much.

The presentation is so superficial and simplistic that it is more reminiscent of ‘Supernytt’ than a proper news analysis.

Furthermore, NRK makes serious allegations without citing sources. Trump is described as historically unpopular without NRK providing readers with a relevant basis for comparison.

The phrase ‘luring with money’ is loaded and not neutral, whilst NRK attributes a motive to him without substantiating it. The claim regarding cheques for $5,000 is also presented without the necessary context regarding what Trump has actually proposed.

Unprofessional and disparaging illustrations

The examples that follow are consistently negative towards Trump. Readers are told about abortion, tax cuts for the wealthiest, 6 January, tariffs, the National Guard, war and executive orders.

NRK also uses unprofessional, childish and vulgar illustrations, as if they were created by just any blogger, not by a state broadcaster funded by taxpayers.

And the state broadcaster knows how to appeal to its readers’ emotions, using images that play on compassion and show people in distress, as in its coverage of aid and climate measures.

Once again, these claims are presented – as they have been throughout the report – without sources, context or dissenting views. Instead, readers are served sweeping generalisations about Trump’s policies.

And, of course, the Norwegian salmon tariff must be included. Because in Norway, it is allegedly the case that the Labour Party and the rest of the politicians work tirelessly to ensure that Norwegians have low taxes, customs duties, levies and as little regulation as possible.

Trump is portrayed as a president who constantly challenges the limits of his own power, whilst the Democrats are cast as the political counterweight capable of keeping him in check.

One of the main sources is legal scholar and ‘US expert’ Sofie Høgestøl, who is given ample space to explain how Trump is testing the limits of presidential power.

Contempt for both Americans and Norwegians

NRK provides no equivalent analysis of the Democrats or of what Democratic control of Congress means for the Republicans. There is no information on which political issues the Democrats will prioritise, nor on the potential consequences of their policies.

NRK’s readers will never find this out. We who have lived through four years of Biden, and are now witnessing a party that has shifted to the far left, perceive NRK’s portrayal of Trump’s America as a mockery of both Americans and Norwegians who place their trust in the state broadcaster.

NRK then presents an overview of the states and politicians vying for a seat in the Senate. Here, too, the same pattern repeats itself.

Democratic candidates are often given a positive introduction, in which NRK highlights their personal backgrounds, characteristics and what they hope to achieve. Republicans are more often described in terms of their support for Trump, controversial positions and criticism from political opponents.

The difference lies not only in the information NRK includes, but also in how the candidates are portrayed.

NRK’s simplistic explanation

NRK explains what will happen if the Democrats take everything:

Remember that everything we have discussed in the examples above depends on the Democrats securing a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. If they do not, Trump can continue to make many of the decisions he makes today, including over the next two years.

Historically, the party holding the presidency (in this case the Republicans) almost always loses seats in the House during the mid-term elections.

This is the voters’ way of making it clear that they are not entirely satisfied with the job the President is doing, explains NRK.

If anyone is wondering what the state broadcaster actually means, let’s put it in simple terms: When the president’s party loses seats in the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections, it is the voters’ way of saying that they are not entirely satisfied with the job the president is doing.

Good heavens, what do the people at NRK actually think of their readers’ intelligence?

Ridiculous for the US and the rest of the world

NRK’s report on Trump’s power is not an isolated incident, but part of a wider pattern in the channel’s coverage of the mid-term elections. In a separate article, ‘What most Norwegians are wondering about the mid-term elections’, NRK continues in the same vein.

Chief economist Harald Magnus Andreassen is quoted as saying that it would be a good thing if the Democrats won, because it would limit Trump’s ability to do things that are “foolish for both the US and the rest of the world”.

The online newspaper’s political reporter, Henrik Heldahl, predicts that Trump will allege electoral fraud “as always” if the Republicans lose. US expert Sofie Høgestøl believes Trump has attempted to seize more power than he is entitled to, and points out how the Democrats can curb his foreign policy. At the same time, readers are told that the Democrats have a stronger field of candidates than the Republicans.

The entire report is permeated by criticism of Trump and the Republicans, whilst the Democrats are once again portrayed in a positive light. Readers are given no equivalent analysis of the Democrats’ policies, no real comparison of the parties’ political alternatives and no explanation of the potential consequences of a Democratic election victory.

The claims and characterisations are left unchallenged, and NRK’s so-called US experts appear to be in almost perfect symbiosis with the state broadcaster’s anti-Trump and anti-Republican line.

The worst offender in the Norwegian media industry

From a lack of coverage of the Alaska scandal, through outright hit pieces against Trump, to the almost uncritical and admiring coverage of the Democrats, the same pattern repeats itself.

In my view, NRK is the worst of the worst in the Norwegian media industry. This is a state broadcaster that is supposed to set the standard for Norwegian journalism, which receives billions of kroner from taxpayers, and which is intended to be the people’s common source of information.

Shameless is the most apt description I can find.

The Times: Trump may be right that the Democrats are using dirty tricks